Are they going around this mountain again?
Back in the 80’s my husband had to purchase new uniforms because the cotton they had been using would burn.
Their solution was 100% polyester.
You would think there was at least one person in the Navy with some knowledge of textiles, and man made fibers.
Polyester doesn’t burn. It melts and sticks to the skin like napalm.
We Marines, along with our Navy brothers, stood an inspection while at flight school in Pensacola.
The USMC has very specific requirements for Class “A” service green uniform fabric. The uniforms of all the USMC officers were identical.
However, the ranks of the Navy pilots resembled a paint color chart of various shades of dark blue. Many also glistened as the sunlight hit their polyester threads.
We did look the same in our Nomex flight suits, except the Navy guys had longer hair. I was sitting in the ready room one morning, studying for my upcoming flight, when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the flight student in the adjacent desk had REALLY long hair, even for a squid.
Then I noticed that the student’s flight suit was quite lumpy on the front. Two very shapely lumps, in fact...
“It’s a girl!” Yep, she was one of the initial four women Naval Aviators.
All Nomex flight suits are fire-proof, but not all flight suits are equal...